Finding common ground

Tuesday

Nov 27, 2012 at 10:57 AMNov 27, 2012 at 10:59 AM

Cynthia Grau

State Rep. Jason Barickman, R-Champaign, came to Pontiac Monday and brought along a Chicago alderman he met as an Edgar Fellow last summer, taking time to show people what they’ve learned, that both Democrats and Republicans can work together for the greater good of the state.Ameya Pawar and Barickman met in August during the inaugural three-day program founded by former Governor Jim Edgar.“It is an initiative to attract young people, primarily those under the age of 40, to a development in leadership conference where we got to know each other. Gov. Edgar’s push to us was that we need to push relationships with one another and make Illinois work in our respective futures. Ameya and I met through it and formed a friendship and decided to take to heart some of what Gov. Edgar is trying to inspire us to do and learn a little more about one another,” Barickman explained.Pawar, 32, who is currently the youngest Chicago alderman ever elected, and Barickman, a little older at 37, have sustained the bond made during the summer and have decided to continue what they learned.“What I find to me most interesting about the Edgar Fellowship is it’s not whether you’re a Democrat or Republican or somewhere in between, it’s if you take away all of that, at the end of the day, we all need to work together. I know there’s a lot of divisiveness out there from both sides of the aisle but I think we have to start figuring out ways to think of things as a state. Not everything’s Chicago-centric and not everything is downstate-centric. Chicago helps make the state work just as downstate makes the rest of the state work. That’s what I got out of it, which is really nice,” Pawar said.Pawar was elected to the Chicago City Council as an alderman of the 47th Ward in February of 2011, and has enjoyed his job as an alderman of the third biggest city in the United States.“I grew up in the suburbs of Chicago and I moved back to Chicago for graduate school. I threw my hat in the ring in 2009, knocked on a lot of doors and spent a lot of time running a grassroots campaign and it worked out and it’s been great,” he said.Barickman, who represents the 105th District and will become the senator of the 53rd District come January, said the program taught him to dig a little deeper when making decisions for the area he represents.“For me, in the legislature, we vote on a lot of legislation that impacts Chicago either directly or indirectly and I’m here to represent Central Illinois, but I think those that elect me want me to do my homework and understand the complexity of our entire state, not just where we’re from, so the opportunity to learn and build some of those relationships will be helpful for me in serving my district,” said Barickman.Pawar said that this is a chance to correct some of the stereotypes that Chicago and downstate residents have of each other.“I think it’s great because I think a lot of people, whether in the media or political pundits, like to say how different we all are. I think a major takeaway is that we’re really not all that different. People are going to disagree on some issues but at the end of the day, we’re all Illinoisians,” Pawar said.Pawar spent the day in Pontiac and Bloomington/Normal, getting to know residents and leaders from the areas, and the pair is in the process of planning for Barickman to do the same in the city of Chicago soon.“We’ve talked about it but haven’t done it yet, but we hope to,” Barickman said.

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